Mechanism operator



Feb. 13, 1934. R. STOVER MECHANISM OPERATOR Original Filed Feb. 23. 19293 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR RussM/fiforer JZH 8 W ATTORNEY Feb. 13, 1934.R, s-rov 1,946,821

MECHANISM OPERATOR Original Filed Feb. 23. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR R0556 670 V6/ ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 342,278. Divided and this application July 24,

1930. Serial No. 470,413

2 Claims.

This invention relates to mechanism operators and more particularly tocandy machine operators, although certain features thereof may beemployed with equal advantage for other purposes.

It contemplates-more especially the provision of power operators foractuating and controlling the intermittent and timed operation ofinstrumentalities primarily adaptable for coating edible centers, thoughit is utilizable with other machines.

This application is a division of application serially numbered 342,278filed February 23, 1929.

Fig.1 is a plan 'view of the mechanism.

Fig. 2.is a front elevational view.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail plan view of the driving mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken along .the line 4-4 inFig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line 55 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a detail of the valve for the spout by means of whichdipping'material is removed from the reservoir.

Figure '7 is an enlarged front view in elevation of the operatingmechanism shown in Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the mechanism is supported by any suitabletype of standards or legs 1. In the center of the machine is aninsulated kettle or reservoir 2 which is electrically heated, the heatsupply being thermostatically controlled by mechanism omitted forthesake of simplicity.

Arranged on opposite sides of'the reservoir are dipping pans 2 and3'also electrically heated by heating elements shown diagrammatically at4.

Onthe front'and rear of the machine are rails or slides 5 and -6. Theserails support trays 7 which are placed on the rails 5 by means of a trayrack or magazine 8, and on the rails 6 at the rear of the machine fromthe magazine 9. Adjacent each operator or dipperare cooling tunnels 10and 11. The operator using thepan2 places the dipped goods upon thetrays '7 which slide upon the rails 6 and pass through the cooler 11,while the dipper facing the pan 3'places dipped goods upon the trayswhich ride the rails 5 and -6 through the cooler 10.

Explaining now the operation and describing first the dipping mechanism,chocolate or other material to 'be used as a dipping substance is placedin the kettle or reservoir .2 which, as

, stated, is heated at a uniform temperature to 5 maintain "thesubstance at the :proper temperature and consistency. Within thereservoir is an agitator 12 rotated by mechanism hereinafter explained.The agitation of the material maintains it at a uniform and desiredtemperature throughout.

At opposite sides and near the bottom of the reservoir are spouts 13 and14 controlled by valves 15, the details of which are shown in Fig. 6. Bymeans of these valves the clipping substance is withdrawn into the pans2 and 3. As suggested, the operators sit facing the dipping pans. Candycenters are supplied to the dippers in any convenient manner by aseparate employee standing in front of the cooler 10. The dippers thenimmerse the centers in the coating substance and deposit or place thedipped goods onto the trays 7. Adjacent the reservoir and above the pans2 and 3 are combination hand wipers and melting troughs 16. The frontedges of the wipers are shaped to conform with the contour of thefingers oi the dipper so that the excess coating substance may bescraped from the hands and fingers at intervals during the dippingoperation when necessary. The wipers are preferably heated by electricalheating elements not shown, to facilitate removing of the excess coatingsubstance which clings to the fingers of the dipper and aifects thefacility with which the dippers work.

Describing now the magazines and conveyor mechanism, in the magazines 8and 9 are placed a plurality of trays '7. Beneath the magazines passconveyor chains 1'? upon which are mounted upstanding lugs 18. The traysare picked up by the sprocket chain due to the contacting of lug 18against the rear of the tray which slides the tray out from under thestack and carries it along the rails 5 and 6 to a position accessible totheoperator. The magazine standards 8 which hold the front of the trayshave slotted openings as shown in Fig. 5 to permit a single tray to beremoved from the stack by the conveyor chain. These slotted openings arelimited in height to hold the trays above which are fed down by gravity.The rate of travel of the trays will be explained in connection with thedescription of the driving mechanism.

The conveyor chains ride over the sprocket wheels 19 pivoted in theframe of the machine. The chains are driven from small sprocket wheels20 mounted upon the shafts 21. As the driving mechanism for the twoconveyor chains is identical, it will be sufiicient to describe thensimultaneously.

With reference to the driving mechanism, a

.. circle on their pivots 21.

motor 22 is hung on the frame beneath the reservoir and through a driveshaft 23 rotates the worm gear 24 within the oil packed casing 25. Thisworm meshes with a horizontally positioned gear 26 shown in Fig. 4,which is mounted upon the vertical shaft 27 This vertical shaft extendsthrough and bears in the bottom of the reservoir and carries theagitator 12, which creates a thorough mixing and turbulence of thecoating substance in the reservoir. Above the gear 26 there is mountedupon the shaft 2''! a cam 28 which in its rotation contacts the crankarms 29, the latter being pivoted at 30 beneath the reservoir. The outerextremities of these crank arms 29 have link connections 31 with thepivoted crank arms 32 which are weighted at their outer free ends byweight members 33. The purpose of the weights 33 is to return the crankarms 29 to position after they have been oscillated by the cam 28. Thecrank, arms 32 are pivoted and freely rotatable upon the shafts 21 whichcarry the sprocket wheels 20. Fixedly mounted to the shafts 21 are drivewheels 34 shown in Figs. 2 and 3. On the weighted free ends of the crankarms 32 and intermediate the pivots 21 and weights 33 are pivoted at 35friction shoes or drags 36. The free outer ends of these friction shoesare adapted to contact the circumference or outer peripheries of thedrive wheels 34. This gripping of the drive wheels by the friction shoesoccurs when the links 31 move the crank arms 32 about their pivot points21 in response to the movement of the arms 29, the latter being anoscillating movement resulting from contact with the cam 28. In otherwords, the contacting of the cam 28 oscillates the crank arms 29 whichin turn through the links 31 rotate the crank arms 32 through a sectorof a The movement transmitted to the cranks 32 is an oscillating movement. The advancing period raises the weighted free ends 33 of the crankarms 32 which in turn releases and raises the shoes or drags 36 fromtheir friction engagement or contact with the rim of the drive wheelduring the receding movement of the crank arms 32. At the return periodof the oscillation the crank arm 32 is rotated in the opposite directionduring which the shoe 36 frictionally engages the drive wheel, rotatingthe wheel and sleeve integral therewith on the shaft 21. This rotativemovement of the drive wheel is transmitted to the conveyor chains 1''!through the sprockets 20 and the trays riding upon the rails 5 and 6 aremoved correspondingly a short distance in their travel.

On the opposite side of the drive wheel from the shoes or drags 36 arepositioned cam members 49 pivoted at on the frame and having weightedmembers 51 which hold the cam brakes in contact with the drive wheel.The pivots of the cams are slightly offset in order to pinch the surfaceof the drive wheels and prevent their being rotated in but onedirection. In other words, the cams function as brakes upon the drivewheels, keeping the slack out of the conveyor chains and preventing thedrive wheels from rotating counter-wise to the normal travel whichdrives the conveyor chains.

To regulate the rate of travel of the trays there are positioned againstthe outer ends of the crank arms 29, cam-shaped disks 3'? by means ofwhich the oscillations of the arms 29 are limited. Calibrated dials 38positioned on the front M of the machine have adjustable indicatinghands or levers 39 by means of which the rapidity of 1. The pipes 40 areleads from a larger air duct 41.

The trays fed from the magazines 8 move along the rails 5 and are usedby the operator who faces the dipping pan 3. The trays after passing theoperator continue with the dipped goods thereon through the cooler 10and are removed from the opposite end to suitable storage racks. Thetrays fed from the magazine 9 move along the rails 6 and are used by theoperator dipping from the pan 2. These trays pass through the cooler 11after which they slide down a semicircular inclined chute 42 upon whichare mounted the rollers 43. At the extremity of the inclined chute is asmall delivery platform shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. Aportion of the inclined chute is pivoted as a gate at 44 to permit thedipper using the tray 3 to reach her position before the dipping trough.This gate or cutout portion of the chute is held in position by a weight45 attached to a cord 46 one end of which is fastened at 47. This cordpasses over a pulley 48 which is mounted upon a transverse brace whichconstitutes a portion of the gate. The purpose of the inclined chute isto make available at the front of the machine the trays used by thedipper using the pan 2. One assistant to the dippers can supply candycenters and remove the full trays from the delivery platform andtransport them to storage racks without the necessity of passing aroundthe machine. In this way production is considerably increased and thetrays collected from the front or from one side of the mechanism.

The advantages of the dipping machine are readily obvious, as iteliminates cumbersome methods heretofore common in dipping candy. Italso maintains the coating substance at a constant temperature duringthe dipping operation besides furnishing automatically trays for thedipped goods which move at a constant and uniform rate. The dipping isreduced to substantially a single operation. This can be done morerapidly and with more uniform results. The chilling of the coatedproduct immediately after the dipping operation improves the characterof the goods, as there is a satin-like finish or sheen to the productwhich is not found in goods dipped by the old method of a heated kettlewithout the chilling operation immediately following.

The drive control permits the mechanism to be individually regulated forthe separate operators according to the speed at which they are capableof dipping. By means of this mechanism dipping operations have beenspeeded up more than three fold as compared with the dipping done bymethods heretofore utilized.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with arotatable driving shaft, of a cam fixed for rotation with said shaft, abell crank member pivoted in the path of said cam for oscillationresponsive to the rotation thereof, a. driven wheel member, a counterweighted lever member pivoted relative to said wheel member. a frictionshoe pivoted to said lever member for engagement with the periphery ofsaid wheel member, link means interposed between said bell crank andlever members to oscillate said lever member in periodic engagement withsaid wheel member through the medium of said friction shoe, andadjustable means in the path of said bell crank to regulate theoscillatory throw thereof, thereby controlling the extent of motionimparted to said wheel member with each oscillation of said pivotedlever member.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with arotatable driving shaft, of means fixed to said shaft for rotationtherewith, a bell crank pivoted in the path of said rotating means toimpart oscillatory movement thereto, a driven wheel member, acounter-weighted lever member pivoted axially of said wheel mem ber, afriction shoe pivoted to said lever member for periodic engagement ofsaid wheel member responsive to the oscillation of said lever member ina predetermined direction, link means interposed between said bell crankand lever members to oscillate said lever member for carrying saidfriction shoe in engagement with the periphery of said wheel member toimpart intermittent rotation thereto, said counterweighted lever servingto gravitate said friction shoe to a disengaged position, a rotativelymounted cam in the path of said bell crank to limit the oscillationthereof, and remote control means for positioning said cam so that thethrow of said crank may be adjusted.

RUSSELL STOVER.

